Author: staff
Protesters blocked the entrances to the Louvre museum in Paris on Monday, following a weekend of demonstrations over the cost of living that escalated into violence and looting in several French cities. A sign on the museum gates read “Entrance closed”, while demonstrators handed out leaflets and spoke to passers-by about their action. The Louvre protest was linked to a wider movement initially led by high school students, but the weekend unrest extended beyond student demonstrations. A first-year student at the École du Louvre said the action aimed to bring the cultural sector into the movement, citing budget cuts and…
The eurozone’s second-largest economy saw its bond yields rise further on Monday, following violent street demonstrations in the country over the weekend. France’s 10-year government bond yield hovered around 4.9% on Monday, near its highest level in more than two decades, as investors demanded a higher premium for holding French debt. Protesters are demanding action on the rising cost of living and declining public services, including education. The unrest adds to pressure on the government as it battles to get its 2027 budget through a deeply divided National Assembly, the lower house of France’s parliament. The immediate challenge is to…
By Theo Farrant & AP Published on 19/10/2026 – 13:09 GMT+2 Could the iconic design of one of Hollywood’s most coveted awards owe a debt to an ancient Egyptian god? A 2,700-year-old bronze figure of Ptah, the Egyptian creator god and master architect, has drawn attention at Frieze Masters in London, where an antiquities dealer has uncovered a possible link between the sculpture and the design of the Oscar statuette. The figure was once owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, a friend of Cedric Gibbons, the art director who designed the Oscar statuette in 1928. Antiquities dealer Rupert Wace says he discovered…
LONDON — The British and Polish governments have criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, after he appeared to downplay the role fellow NATO members played in the Afghanistan war. No.10 Downing Street joined Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in pushing back at Hegseth, who told an audience at the University of Tennessee over the weekend that few NATO allies were “actually involved in kinetic operations.” “I was a captain in Afghanistan and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters,” Hegseth recalled. “It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different…
Published on 19/10/2026 – 15:09 GMT+2 Preparations are under way to hold a European Council summit in Rome in March 2027 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, amid speculation over an early election in Italy. It would be the first time an anniversary celebration has been combined with a formal European Council summit held outside Brussels. EU leaders’ summits are normally held in Brussels. In exceptional circumstances, European Council President António Costa can propose another venue, provided all member states agree unanimously. “President Costa has put forward the idea to organise a formal European Council in…
At least two people have died after heavy rain caused flooding in eastern Spain, according to authorities. Footage filmed on Monday showed flooded streets and submerged cars in Beniarbeig and Oliva, near Alicante in the Valencia region. Rescuers were working to evacuate stranded residents as officials urged people to remain indoors. The Valencia region was among the worst-hit areas, with several towns cut off and residents stranded. Helicopters were deployed for rescue operations, while around 2,000 people were evacuated from seven campsites in Oliva, according to local authorities.
Polish satellite maker Creotech Instruments plans to increase its production capacity tenfold by 2029, CEO Grzegorz Brona said in an interview with Reuters. He also warned that Europe will still need US rockets to launch its satellites into orbit for years. The satellite maker is aiming to open a new factory in 2029 in Mazowieckie, Poland, capable of making 40 satellites a year across different models, or 100 of a single model. This compares with 10 at its current site in Piaseczno, just outside Warsaw. The comments come at a time when Europe is trying to reduce its reliance on…
A guest of honour at this year’s Lumière Film Festival was American director Robert Eggers, the mastermind behind gothic folklore horror gems like The VVitch, The Lighthouse and Nosferatu. Prior to the upcoming release of his new film, Werwulf, a werewolf horror film set in 14th-century England starring Nosferatu alum Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe, the director sat down with the Lyon audience to discuss the dark and instantly recognisable worlds he has created on screen. Sadly, there was no time for any questions on the director’s upcoming project – an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo And Juliet” –…
The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the primary tool used to measure MS disability, was developed in 1983 to assess walking ability. We now know that MS affects far more than mobility. Fatigue affects 94 percent of people with MS, while 75 percent report cognitive difficulties, but both are absent in the EDSS assessment.3 In a field where clinical consensus is rare, seven in ten neurologists agree: a more comprehensive approach is needed.3 Growing recognition of smouldering neuroinflammation has made the need for new methods of quantifying MS progression increasingly urgent. This slow, chronic disease activity can persist even when…
German police said on Monday that two men turned themselves in after a security fence was damaged at the airport in the city of Leipzig, an incident that raised concerns following an attack at the same airport over the summer that German authorities attributed to Russia. The two individuals, aged 20 and 32, turned themselves in on Sunday night, according to a statement issued by the Leipzig police. The younger man said through a lawyer that he lost control of the car while driving in the airport area the previous night and crashed through the fence. He then left the…